Body of Smylie lies in state in Capitol

BOISE – The body of former Gov. Robert Smylie was brought to the Rotunda on Tuesday to lie in state at the Capitol, allowing scores of people to walk past the casket of the state’s 24th governor.

Smylie, the only man elected to three consecutive terms as governor, died Saturday at his home after a lengthy illness. He was 89.

Funeral services were scheduled for today at the Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who cited Smylie’s creation of the state parks system, his love of the arts and his concern over public policy long after he left office, ordered the flags flown at half staff in his predecessor’s memory.

A 19-gun military salute was fired from the park lawn across from the Statehouse after eight military pall bearers removed Smylie’s casket from the hearse.

Escorted by a military honor guard, the flag-draped casket was slowly carried into the Capitol’s first floor followed by Smylie’s son, state Rep. Steve Smylie, and a line of dignitaries led by Kempthorne.

With the casket directly under the Capitol Dome, Kempthorne stopped for several minutes to speak with Smylie’s widow, Lucille. Then Steve Smylie pushed his mother in her wheelchair to the wreath set before her husband’s casket, and she was immediately followed by a lengthening line of people who passed a display of pictures and memorabilia of the former chief executive as they paid their respects.

“I told her these were honors for a great man,” Kempthorne said. “I wanted to thank her for her service for all of us, and I let her know that our prayers were with her.”

At the close of his third term, Smylie played a key role in what many believe remains the high-water mark of policy-making in Idaho – the 1965 legislative session that, among other things, approved the first three cents of the state sales tax.

Smylie, whose support for the tax was crucial, called its passage the defining moment in Idaho’s progression to political and economic maturity.